My husband , who is 62 yo and never been sick in his life, underwent a Whipple at St. Luke's (Mayo) Hospital in Jacksonville, FL last August. When he was first diagnosed, he weighed 340 lbs. That excess weight ended up being a blessing when he started loosing weight from the surgery. After 9-1/2 hours of surgery, they got all the tumor and his prognosis is good. However, I can't seem to hit on the right nutrition for him. I've got him on three good meals a day (won't eat more than that, says he's too full), plus two Prosure drinks (formulated especially for Cancer patients). He eats good at all meals but for the last 10 months has had diarrhea after each meal. We finally got him on an enzyme (Ultrace MT20) and Bentyl for irritable bowel and that has decreased his diarrhea to about once a day. However, he continues to lose weight and has now lost a total of 170 lbs. He is skin and bones and although he is able to work a full-time job, he doesn't have a lot of energy. He is undergoing 3 1-hour sessions of rehab a week and that has done wonders for him (especially since it's free so he doesn't have to worry about cost). I am so concerned about his weight loss. We have an appointment with the nutritionist at the hospital but it's not for another 10 days or so.
His mind is also being affected by the wrong nutrition as it is very hard for him to concentrate on anything. This has slowed his return to driving since he has a tendency to not concentrate and drive off the side of the road. I'm told by a very good friend who's a nurse that the brain must have good nutrition to work right.
Can anyone give me an idea of what types of food I can give him that might help put some weight back on him and help his mental status? I haven't seen him go thru all the crap he's been through just to loose him to malnutrition!
Thank you in advance for any help you can give us!